NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife Announces 2010 Skillful Angler Award Recipients

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Robert Ivan

The Skillful Angler Awards Program honors the many anglers who catch both freshwater and marine fish which aren’t of record size but are impressive and worthy of recognition. Special recognition is given to the anglers who caught the largest fish in each of the freshwater and marine species categories.

In 2010, 127 applications representing 25 different species were officially processed. Since the program’s modest beginning (31 applicants in 1983), the Division has granted Skillful Angler status to 3,068 anglers.

INTERESTING FACTS:

The most frequently entered species by skillful anglers in 2010 (adult, junior, and catch and release categories combined) were rainbow trout with 16 entries, followed by largemouth bass (13), chain pickerel (13) and striped bass saltwater (12).

The following is a breakdown of applications received per species (all categories combined): largemouth bass (13), smallmouth bass (5), striped bass hybrid (4), bullhead (3), carp (1), channel catfish (7), crappie (8), muskellunge (4), yellow perch (5), chain pickerel (13), America shad (1), brook trout (4), brown trout (6), lake trout (1), rainbow trout (16), sunfish (4), walleye (5), black sea bass (4), striped bass caught in saltwater (12), black drum (2), bluefish (1), fluke (6), kingfish (1), tautog (1) and big eye tuna (1).

In 2010, no entries were received for the striped bass freshwater, pike, cod, dolphin, winter flounder, blue marlin, white marlin, pollock, mako shark, albacore tuna, bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, tuna (other) categories and weakfish.

Overall, more freshwater catches (99) were entered than saltwater (28).

Further Reading:

Head over to the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife website to read the full list of 2010 Skillful Angler Award Recipients. You’ll recognize RoundValleyFishing’s guest writer John Korn as winning the Catch and Release Award for the 40 inch Lake Trout he caught jigging last December. Congratulations John!

Round Valley Ice Fishing Report

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Robert Ivan

My friend Chris and I headed out to Round Valley Reservoir on Saturday morning to do a little ice fishing. The main lake is not frozen over and hasn’t been for a handful of years but the smaller “swimming” side is, so that’s where we fished. We met some other friends and even the now-famous state record eel eating Vasily showed up!

2011 Round Valley Largemouth Bass Ice Fished
Nice size Round Valley Bucketmouth!

2011-01-17_1_RoundValley_IceFishing

The ice was 3 to 6 inches deep, however there was a layer of snow and slush on top of it which made a pit in my stomach every time I took a step and sank a little. The last year we were ice fishing at Round Valley, the ice was 12 to 18inches thick so this was a little hairy.

We started around 9am and by 10am had 20 holes drilled with about 10 tip-ups working and some guys jigging. Remember that you are allowed 5 working holes per person by law and your tip ups must have your name and address on them.

All our tip-ups were fished near the bottom (12 to 30 feet depending on which hole) with a live large shiner hooked just under the dorsal fin. We caught two Chain Pickerel and one Largemouth Bass with these tip-ups. The Pickerel were caught shallow and the bass was caught deep.

2011-01-17_2_RoundValley_ChainPickerel

Jigging everything we could think of produced nothing and at about noon we had enough and packed it in. We had a great time but be very careful out there if you go ice fishing at RV, the ice isn’t that great this year. The other side of the lake if you are curious is still open and I spotted two boats out there trolling.

October 25, 2010 Shore Fishing Report

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Robert Ivan

Fished for an hour before going to work (hence the clothing) with my friends Chris, Erin, and Chris. It was good to spend time with them, it seems the older I get, the less “friend” time I have.

We fished off the shore on the sandy point directly across from the concrete boat ramp. Using garden worms, size 6 circle hook tied to 3 feet of fluorocarbon leader, 1small split-shot about 2feet above the hook, slip bobber set to `10feet. I caught 1 rainbow pictured above and 2 largemouth bass in about 1 hour. All fish were released.

The beauty about using the circle hook is that when the bobber goes under, just start reeling line in. At first you just pull in all the slack line that the wind has blown around. If the bobber pops up before you are done reeling in the slack, stop. Wait for it to go under again, then start reeling. You’ll feel the weight of the fish and see the bend in your rod when all the slack is gone and the fish still has the hook in its mouth.

The key for me in the Fall has been small hooks, small bait, and light leader. I suggest getting out and doing some Fall trout fishing at Round Valley. The reports have been spotty but the weather has been great!

Flat-Line Trolling for Bass and Trout

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Robert Ivan

Flat-Line trolling refers to trolling without a dowrigger. One can flat-line troll directly off the boat OR using planer boards to spread the coverage area.

Why would anyone flat-line troll you may ask? Well, I do it primarily because I’m not in a position to buy downrigger$ and all the special gear that entails (lead balls, line releases, trolling rods, trolling reels, etc…). Buy another great reason to flat-line troll is that it actually works to catch almost any fish in Round Valley.

In the Spring when the Lake Trout emerge from their wintery depths, they are feeding up high and downriggers are not needed. Lake Trout can be found in the top 10 feet of water (look for 48 to 52 degree water temps), skirting the shoreline, devouring anything that moves.

Tackle and Lures: Use the rod, reel, and lures you would normally use to TROLL for trout. Feed out at least 50yards of line to get the lures down and away from your boat. I’ve had success trolling big Daredevil spoons (shiny spoons when sunny, colored spoons when cloudy), Crippled Herring, and Kastmasters as well as live herring behind a 1oz barrel sinker. Be sure to use a fluorocarbon leader, the number of strikes you will get with vs without is high. Hook the herring under the chin and out a nostril. I use #6 Gamakatsu Octopus circle hooks for this setup.

In the Summer Lake Trout go deeper and the Browns and Rainbows hover above the thermocline. These areas require a downrigger to troll through effectively. Having said that, I’ve found that very early in the morning, right around the break of dawn, one can flat line troll live herring and catch Rainbow Trout (I’ve never caught a brown this way). At midday, this same technique can be used to catch Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass. Troll in 30 to 60 feet of water ANYWHERE on Round Valley and you will catch a Bass!

Tackle and Lures: Use the rod, reel, and lures you would normally use to DRIFT for trout. Feed out at least 50yards of line to get the lures down and away from your boat. I’ve had greatest success trolling live herring behind a 1oz barrel sinker. Be sure to use a fluorocarbon leader, the number of strikes you will get with vs without is high. Hook the herring under the chin and out a nostril. I use #6 Gamakatsu Octopus circle hooks for this setup.

Trolling Speed: If you are using your outboard, just throw it into gear and let it idle. If you are using your eletctric trolling motor, you’ll have to vary your speed depending on wind conditions. Do esses with the boat as you go. When you get into fish, circle around and do figure 8′s in the area.

-That’s it. Hope this helps!

Fishing The Rocks at Round Valley

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Robert Ivan

The Rocks

The Rocks in this article and on this site refers to an earthen dam that was created across a narrow waterway on the west side of the reservoir. It looks like a rock bridge or rock dam and it’s a damn good place to start fishing from the shore.

The big side of the lake – you can catch everything; trout, bass, crappie, bluegill, everything but Lake Trout.

Want to catch something big? Use medium to large live herring or shiner hooked under the dorsal fin with a #6 hook and suspended about 4 to 6 feet under a bobber. Half way between your hook and your bobber should be a barrel swivel and above that a 1/4 or 1/2 ounce egg sinker. Cast out and wait. Wait for the bobber to get pulled completely under water, reel in your slack, and if the bobber is still under the water, set the hook. If the bobber pops up before you can set the hook, just wait and see if the fish comes back. You will catch trout and bass using this technique.

You can also forgo the bobber and just live-line a shiner or herring. Use only a #6 hook, no swivel, no weight, no bobber. Cast out and let your bait swim around. Leave your bail open to allow free movement of your swimming bait. When you see line start running off faster or a big splash where you fish was just swimming, let it go a few seconds, then close the bail, reel in the slack and set the hook. I like using Circle hooks when livelining because there is less likelyhood the fish will swallow the hook. If you use Circle hooks, don’t set the hook, just start reeling in and the magic of technology will do the rest.

Are you with your kid and want to catch something just to show him or her what a fish looks like? If they’re small kids, avoid the rocks completely because it’s easy to fall and get hurt. Still hell bent on fishing this spot? Ok pick up a package of night-crawlers and use those on a #8 baitholder hook suspended 2 to 4 feet under a bobber. You will catch tons of sunfish and small bass.

Fishing on the bottom is not advisable from this location. You will get snagged on rocks and weeds.

Fishing with lures can be fun. In the Spring and Fall we’ve caught trout on silver Kastmasters and in the summer we’ve caught lots of bass and crappie on smaller floating and swimming lures.

The Swimming side of the lake – you will not catch any trout here but you will catch bass, sunfish, and chain pickerel. Use Rapala floating lures to stay out of the weeds. Weedless rubber worms are great here too. Some of the biggest largemouth bass we’ve caught have been on this side of the lake fishing weedless rubber worms right on the bottom.

You can fish with live shiners and minnows on this side of the lake as well, however the thick weed cover makes it a real nightmare if your casting accuracy is sub par. The weeds get thicker as the summer goes on.

In the winter this side freezes over pretty good and makes for good icefishing. Fish using live shiners and you’ll catch largemouth bass and chain pickerel.